Small Firestation

[KenP]

This sucks.

Volunteers' station burns while fighting house fire

By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 19, 2006



BLOXOM — They suited up around 11 p.m. Tuesday night, as they have for decades, volunteers answering the call. A house was ablaze several miles from this small Eastern Shore town near the Maryland-Virginia line.


An hour later, while fighting that fire, they got a second call: Their own fire station was ablaze.

Bloxom volunteers raced back, but by the time they got to their two-story building, flames were shooting from the front bays and fire was licking through the two-story structure.
....

[KenP]

This sucks.

Volunteers' station burns while fighting house fire

By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 19, 2006



BLOXOM — They suited up around 11 p.m. Tuesday night, as they have for decades, volunteers answering the call. A house was ablaze several miles from this small Eastern Shore town near the Maryland-Virginia line.


An hour later, while fighting that fire, they got a second call: Their own fire station was ablaze.

Bloxom volunteers raced back, but by the time they got to their two-story building, flames were shooting from the front bays and fire was licking through the two-story structure.
....

[Marcmedic]

That does suck. Sounds pretty suspicious that a rural area that small had 2 fires at the same time. Some sick bastard probably lit it off when they went on the first one. I have a prediction...the fire starter is a current or former volunteer from that department or a neighboring one.

[ree]

I don't know which would be worse, finding out it was arson or if someone accidentally left the stove on with the 2+ alarm chili and it boiled over (Marcmedic, is the cook-fireman stereotype really real)?

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Marcmedic:
That does suck. Sounds pretty suspicious that a rural area that small had 2 fires at the same time. Some sick bastard probably lit it off when they went on the first one. I have a prediction...the fire starter is a current or former volunteer from that department or a neighboring one. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Since it's volunteer, not likely to be a current. If the original call was suspicious then maybe just a random arsonist. If not, then maybe a former volunteer that had a beef with someone and heard the call go out over a scanner, then set the fire.

In any case, I agree. A little coincidental. Does anyone know where walc was last night?

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alec W:
My guess is they left something on like the stove. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Typically, in a volunteer dept., the personnel do not stay at the station house.

[Marcmedic]

It happens a lot more often than you think. We've had several in some of the rural areas around here. Typically they set the fire in their own area so they can get on the truck and put it out. Usually done in unoccupied structures. Seeing that their equipment was already out on a fire leads me to believe that someone from the the next due mutual aid entity is possibly the arsonist. There is no sense to destroying your own firehouse just to get a fire. But someone from a neighboring FD would probably get off on saving another towns station. This happens mainly in small, rural fire departments with a really low call volume. Some people get into this line of work for the "hero" factor. They usually start the fire with the thought that they can easily put it out. But more times than not it gets out of hand too quickly. Most volunteers respond directly to the scene of the fire in their own vehicle once they hear that the engine has already responded. 10 bucks says it's a volunteer from a nearby department, and he was the first or second person on the scene in his POV.

[Klaus]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Marcmedic:
Most volunteers respond directly to the scene of the fire in their own vehicle once they hear that the engine has already responded. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I grew up in a small town where my father was a volunteer fireman. In the 60's the firemen were issued a Plectron radio that could be activated by the station. The place and type of fire was then broacast to the firemen at home and they would proceed directly to the fire in their POV.

[Lucifer]

Firemen burning down thier station on accident isn't actually that uncommon. One around here has caught fire twice, and burned to the ground once because something was left cooking or on. Reminds me of the cop that shot himself while giving a school demonstration on gun safety.

[rodster]

Interesting insights in this thread. My business intersects with volunteer fire services quite often. I never would have guessed they'd be so hungry for action.

--------

Uh, Lucifer ... why are there fire stations in Hell?

[Lucifer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rodster:
Interesting insights in this thread. My business intersects with volunteer fire services quite often. I never would have guessed they'd be so hungry for action.

--------

Uh, Lucifer ... why are there fire stations in Hell? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Irony, the pumps are actually full of jet fuel

[Marcmedic]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rodster:
Interesting insights in this thread. My business intersects with volunteer fire services quite often. I never would have guessed they'd be so hungry for action.

--------

Uh, Lucifer ... why are there fire stations in Hell? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm not saying that all volunteers are capable of this. Full time firefighters have done this also. It's just a little odd that they went on a suspicious fire and when they went out, their station caught fire shortly after. Typically it's a younger person who cannot get a job on a full time fire department and wants to impress people.

[rodster]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Marcmedic:
I'm not saying that all volunteers are capable of this ... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Understood and apologies if my post suggested otherwise. I've met many, many firefighters and EMS folks from career, combo and volunteer departments and they were all good people with commendable motives. One bad apple doesn't spoil the bunch.

[Marcmedic]

I was just clarifying that my original post wasn't meant to bash volunteers.

[Lucifer]

Actually the fire station that burned down here was full time, not volunteer.

[Marcmedic]

Dumbasses...

[KenP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Marcmedic:
That does suck. Sounds pretty suspicious that a rural area that small had 2 fires at the same time. Some sick bastard probably lit it off when they went on the first one. I have a prediction...the fire starter is a current or former volunteer from that department or a neighboring one. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>BINGO!!! We may have a winner!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Norfolk firefighter charged with arsons on Eastern Shore

By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 26, 2006

NORFOLK — A city firefighter has been charged with setting four fires within two hours in Salisbury, Md. , on Tuesday night, and authorities are investigating whether he set other fires on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia.

At 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, Salisbury police stopped David Clifton Parks, 30 , of Onancock, in a Lincoln Continental that he had been driving erratically, according to W. Faron Taylor, a deputy state fire marshal in Maryland.



Police saw him stuff something under his front seat, Taylor said, and they found matches there . They also found a one-gallon container of gasoline in the back seat.

A witness identified Parks as having been at one of the fires with a large fuel container, which was recovered elsewhere, Taylor said.

Parks, who was once recognized for heroism in the rescue of a boy from a burning Eastern Shore home, was jailed on arson and attempted murder charges stemming from the blazes. Nobody was injured in Tuesday’s fires .

Taylor said fire investigators will consider whether Parks has been involved in other pending arson cases in the region – something they typically do when somebody is charged with multiple arsons.

The first fire, reported at 9:48 p.m., involved a car in the parking lot of the Old Salisbury Mall. Next was a 10:05 p.m. fire at two businesses, the Country House and the Sweet Retreat Cafe & Tea Room . The next was at Feldman’s Market Street Antiques, at 10:41 p.m., and the last was at a duplex, at 11:32 p.m. Two occupants fought that last fire with a garden hose before firefighters arrived. Parks faces two counts of attempted murder related to that fire.

Deputy fire marshals charged Parks with several counts of arson and two counts of attempted murder. Salisbury police charged him with driving under the influence of alcohol and traffic offenses.

The fires caused an estimated $248,000 in damage.

Investigators deemed that each blaze was set from the outside with flammable liquid.

The Virginia General Assembly honored Parks for helping rescue a 5-year-old boy from a burning building in Accomac in December 2000, according to legislative records.

A volunteer firefighter on the Eastern Shore, Parks was hired in Norfolk in February 2004, said Capt. Garry Windley of Norfolk Fire-Rescue. He worked in Station 10 on Virginia Beach Boulevard.

In December, Parks was placed on administrative duty after being charged with driving under the influence in Accomack County, Windley said. As of Wednesday, he was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the charges in Maryland.

He was being held in lieu of $800,000 bond Wednesday in the Wicomico County Detention Center in Salisbury.

Virginia State Police are investigating several fires on the Eastern Shore, said Sgt. D.S. Carr. One of them destroyed the Bloxom Volunteer Fire Company’s station last week while volunteers were busy battling a house fire several miles away.

Carr said Wednesday that investigators had not ruled out an accidental cause in that blaze. He could not immediately provide details of the other fires under investigation. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>What a dumbass.

[Marcmedic]

I guess I must have paid attention in that arson investigation class I took a few years ago.

[KenP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Marcmedic:
I guess I must have paid attention in that arson investigation class I took a few years ago. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>He's caught and now needs to pay.

I'll keep you up to date on the latest.